@Michael *******

If your country is the UK, are you saying you could get these legal services for £110? Nonsense

EDIT: I'm sorry, it is £440

Go to Philippines to live for now. Come to Thailand on holiday for a month at a time. See how the visa situation here changes. The tax position is becoming more challenging for some of us. And populism/nationalism with racism seems to be growing all over the world. Recent events have shown it may be on the rise here too. Wait to see how that plays out for a couple of years. By which time many of us might join you in PH!

I opened an account at Bangkok Bank by showing a hotel booking of one month and my non-O visa. It took me 2 days and numerous visits to do it. If I did it again, knowing what I know now, I'd use an agent to open the account.

How are you travelling to Thailand?

Agent is the only way to do it without suffering mental breakdown from the stress

Apply for the multiple re-entry with your visa. You can have zero re-entries, 1 or multiple.

For Passport, you need copies of the data/photo page, entry stamp page and current visa page. You have to sign all copy pages of whatever documentation you provide.

Thai bank passbook. Take the original and yes, it needs all the pages intact!

A lesson to other, maybe, thatbits best to apply and pay for a visa once in a while

In Pattaya you need to go to the Land Transport Office in Bang Lamung to get your documents checked and make an appointment. They only have 20 foreigners a day and there's usually about a 2 week wait. It's also a good chance to get your docs right if they find there's a problem.

Then you turn up for your appointment with your docs. I didn't have to watch a video, but that sometimes happens. Then you identify the colours red, green and yellow correctly as they change fairly fast. Finally you sit at a very rustic contraption with 2 wooden pedals. You press the right pedal when the lights are green and press the left pedal quickly when the lights turn red.

If you have a licence from your home country (in English) that's it. You queue up to pay, get your picture taken and walk away with your licence. If you don't have your licence or it's not in English, you have to do a practical driving test on a closed road. I heard you drive about 2 minutes then reverse between 2 bollards. And that's it.

@Iain *****

brilliant. That's where my mind went too 🤣🤣

@David *********

It sounds like you could have gone a few days earlier and be back already. But I see why you're looking ahead to July